Telephone-meter.



PATENTED DEG. 11, 1906.

v N. H. HOLLAND. TELEPHONE METER.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN.31,1902.

UNITED- STATES PATnivro FIon.

NEWMAN H. HOLLAND, or BROOKLINE, Missie'eesms, ASSIGNQROE ONE-HALF TO CHARLES BATE, OF QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS.

TELEPHONE-METER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Application filed January 31,1902. Serial No. 92,053.

Patented Dec. 11 1 906, it

To whcm' it may concern:

Be it known that I, NEWMAN H. HOLLAND, of'Brookline, county of Norfolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Telephone-Meters, of which the fol-. lowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification,

like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

The present invention relates to a telephone-meter, and is embodied in a local instrument adapted to be located at the subscribers station, the object of the invention being to obtain an instrument which can be installed without altering or disturbing any of the circuits or apparatus at the central oflice.

A further object of the invention is to rovide means whereby the subscriber ca ling for a connection can communicate with central oflice and be assured that the line he desires has been connected before his meter has been operated, the operation of the meter, however, being necessary before conversation can be carried on with the other party.

A further object of the invention is to arrange the instrument so that the called-subscribers instrument will be in condition for communication without any operation of the meter, it being the purpose to register the calls only at the station where the calls originate. To accomplish this purpose, the

transmitter-circuit, upon the completion of which the ability of the subscriber to communicate with another subscriber depends, is provided with a circuit-controller through which the circuit is open after a subscriber has sentin a call, the instrument being provided with means under the control of the subscriber for closing the said circuit, the said means, however, being so arranged that they cannot be operated Without making a record. The circuit, however, is provided with a secondary circuit-controller which 'is only partially under the control of the subscriber, the said subscriber being able to use this device to close the circuit temporarily, the said circuit, however, being automatically broken at the end of a predetermined interval of time. This interval of time is sufficient to enable the, subscriber to communicate his wishes to the central office and toascertain if the line he desires to be connected with is available and connected. This interval of time can be suificiently long to practically assure that the subscriber will obtain the connection without, however, be

ing long enough to enable him to carry on any conversation with the other subscriber.

The transmitter-circuit being broken auto-. matically at the end of such interval of time,

it is necessary to operate the other circuit controller, and consequently the meter, the operation of the other circuit-controller being such that the circuit will remain closed as long as the instrument is in use. This cir uit-controller, however, is arranged to cause the circuit to be broken in response to an outgoing signaling impulse, so that the act of signaling central opens the circuit, which cannot again be closed without operating the meter. The receiver circuit, however, is always closed, so that the subscriber can hear the operator at central, so that the timed circuit-controller need not be 0 erated until after the operator has answere The instrument is provided, however, with means whereby the circuit will be closed at a station receiving a call, so that the subscriber at such station can carry on conversation without operating his meter. 7

, The invention is applicable to either the local-battery or central-energy systems, and to illustrate the invention it is herein shown as applied to each of the said systems, the construction shown being in each case a practical embodiment of the invention, it being obvious, however, that modifications can be made without departing from the invention.

Figure 1 is a diagram of circuits at a subscribers station, illustrating the meter embodying the invention as applied to the localbattery system; and Fig. 2 is a similar diagram illustrating the invention as applied to a central-energy system.

The meter at, which may be a recording in strument of any suitable type, being conventionally shown as a train of wheels, is adapted to be operated manually, as by a pushbutton a under the control of the sub scriber, the arrangement being such that the operation of this push button is essential to the completion of the transmitter-circuit for understood that this is the condition only at the station ys hic h8. 01:igigl&l,,fib,6 pgd l the nt ty ha31256 9: irm i hmall; being in condition lfior conversation Without an jo eration ont e r 'e qas afi ai e Fig. 1 thanswerer-arenaisafmfigdto be broken in response to an impulse of oua rent from the generator G, Whic k in sending a call to central ofiice.

Witiidiit fifi-thprsfit tracing thetransmittercircuit, it may be stated; thatfthe break above mentioned is caused by a air O tIQl Q I fbrw iill 'i r hpwil pp'ii lid l A I mania; nd.

as r

he'gj p .l geiige hex body o h is , t eii ps the other side ofthe locai battery B ti ar a r repsw en mha s e i a complish.

f prov ew s 30f;

Q a As herelnpsho iyn the, sa d .push

e-iv s ta a arwuenacaw all dmma;

a ri erQuiete ;r ulq swilmi mwass gns? s m s rmllm arr ng di a be tempqra lmre- 5 v mgresponsei tfqiang ut 9mg pal k fi rani h mir 1 grams irded'. M 1 1 a v1 .01; 1.11g'sllfi ll( .31 1-, "with a pathi fiwhieh' sial fif tw in h adide s fit; f su nfl i d \wr wt fl thrqilgh-ythtcigilszbtan elsfimma e q tgamgs nalmg-memta ,es as g naL; 1s; sent di t,;there}fiore, v, the ,detqnt ei i sx Y imitpfthswar s h zibmaim ess? device 1.6. 313 showng sa prmgmcatgh Th t 1 5 cki g device. awmvmasses t be, era or f mal w s mem r lhereas 1 sprmgncaigghiazgd elgasesq he de ch theni'stlandssnip slt qn tqil szkk thei'memh 'nl ii a il els e mthe iorah 2o i that. r hi ifisanihernc rmqt worry-r0 91 mp c r ati m r means 9i ha ll hutmnu p ha at r s s i mt was Ia m ts- .sqmmqetthe, qriversatwa hewawaiftsiilthe ,r rgi rti; g hus, t aql qLs a q ii bimwss b ng. tacgomplishe howewier thafi;

operate upon an extension of the armature b so as to force the contactmember 1) into contact with an operating contact member b and the armature b is so arranged as to stay in whatever position it has been caused to assume under the influence of current passing through the electromagnets, c or c.

The same movement of the push-button a as indicated, operates the meter at, thus recording the use of the instrument. The

transmitter-circuit is then completed through c the conductor B, the contact member b the contact member I), the conductor B conductor G gravity-hook H, &c.; as before.

In case the subscriber is called his instrumentwill be in condition for use without operating themeter, since the circuit-controller b, if not already in position to close the trans shunt or branch of said circuit starts atC,

nutter-circuit, will be moved to such position under the influence of the incoming signaling-current, which energizes the electromagnet c,which is included in the naling-circuit. i

, Without tracing the entire incomin signalingcircuit, it is sufficient to state t at a incoming sigpassing through the conductor O electromagnet c, to the conductor G, which con nects with the main portion of the incoming 3 I From the foregoing descri signaling-circuit at G.

tion it will be seen that the instrument wil always be in condition for use after a signal has been received,but that it cannot be usedafter a signal has been sent without first operating the recording mechanism. At the same time the subscriber is amply protected against recorda ing unsuccessful ca1ls,as the timing mechanism permlts sufficient .communicatlon with the central office to ascertain whether or not a successful connection has beenmade.

, In the central-energy or common-battery.

system the method of operation is substantlally the same, and but slightmodifications of the circuits are required, the main difference being that the transmitter-circuit is arranged to be ened at b in response to the movement of t e gravity-hook when the receiver is hung up,the' incoming signalingcurrent causing t e circuit to be closed at b, asbefojrer I It is not deemed necessary to trace the circuits shown in Fig. 2., which are substantially the same as those shown in Fig. 1, with such changes as are necessary to adapt the instrument to the central e nergy system, which is too well known to require description. The electromagnet 0 however, which causes the breaking of the circuit at b, is arranged to be energized by current flowing over. a circuit which is momentarily closed when the receiver is restored to the gravity-hook, For this pur- I pose the gravity-hook His arranged to make a passing contact with a contact-piece H mo' mentarily completing the circuit through conductor G through the electromagnetc conductor G switch member H gravityhookI-I, resistance R, conductor G, to the other side of the line, thus energizing the electromagnet c and causing the circuit to be broken b. The circuit remains broken at 1) until closed either by an incoming call, which is not to be recorded, or by the operation of the push-button a as in the arrange ment already described, which also operates the recording mechanism. The construction and arrangement of the push-button e and the circuit-controllers operated thereby and the secondary circuits at the instrument are substantially the same as those described in detail in connection with those in Fi g. 1, and

it is not deemed necessary to describe them further in connection with. Fig. 2.

It is to be understood that while the construction and arrangement herein shown and described to illustrate the invention constitute a practical embodiment of the invention such construction and arrangement have been chosen mainly for clearness in illustrat ing the invention and that both the mechanical devices and the arrangement of the cir cuits may be varied or modified without departing from the invention.

I claim 1. In a telephone-meter system; a recording instrument at each station; a device located at said station for signaling a central,

oflice a circuit-controller f or the transmittercircuit at each station; means operated by the signaling device, when central oflice is signaled, for actuating said controller, to prevent the use of the transmitter; and cominon means, independent of the means operated by said signaling device, for operating said recording instrument and said circuitcontroller.

2. In a telephone-meter system, a recordinginstrument at eachstation; means located at each station forsignaling a central office; a circuit-controller for the transmittercircuit at each station; means for causing said circuit-controller to open the said transmitter-circuit in response to the operation. of

vice to senda signal to the central office; a

recording instrument at the local station; and common means for operating said recording instrument and restoring said circuit controller to close the transmitter-circuit.

vided With common operating means; a-

second circuit-controller; an operating device therefor; means for locking said operating device; means operating in response to outgoing signaling-currents for unlocking said operating device; and means for auto matioally restoring said second circuit-com troller to normal.

6. In a telephone-meter system, a transmitter-circuit and a receiver-circuit at each station; a signal-receiving and a signal-sending device at each station; a circuit-controller for the transmitter-circuit; a device for operating said circuit-controller to close the transmitter-circuit in response tothe operation of. the signal-receiving device and for breaking said transmitter-circuit in response to the operation of the signal-sending device; a recording instrument; andva device for closing said transmitter-circuit to permit conversation, and at the same time to operate said recording instrument.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

NEWVMAN H.,HOLLAND. Witnesses:

HENRY J. LIVERMORE, JAs. J. MALONEY. 

